he was sporting a blackened eye and facing the fact that he had just acquired himself a wife he did not want.
Not as his wife, anyway.
He very much wanted Lady Jo Danvers in other ways—on her back, on her knees, for instance—but that was what had landed him mired in this predicament.
“Ravenscroft is correct,” Decker forced himself to admit. “I did dishonor you. The burden to make amends for my actions is now on me, which is why I have offered to marry you.”
“Never happening!” the earl roared.
“Marry me?” Jo repeated simultaneously, her eyes going wide. “You cannot possibly mean that.”
“It is the right thing to do,” he said calmly, holding her stare.
“It is the wrong goddamn thing to do, and as I have already told you, I will never allow you to marry my sister.” The earl finally succeeded in dislodging Jo from her tenacious hold upon his person.
Looking angry enough to commit murder, he took another swing at Decker. This time, Decker was prepared. He feinted to his left. The earl’s fist connected with a row of book spines, sending more volumes hurtling to the carpet.
“Cease this at once, both of you!” Jo screeched, planting herself between Decker and Ravenscroft.
Damn. He was not going to run the risk of landing a blow upon her, just so he could cause the earl a bit more pain.
Decker glared at Ravenscroft. “The lady is right. Beating each other to a pulp will not solve any problems. The sooner you acquaint yourself with the fact that I will be marrying her to save her from any…consequences, the better.”
Was he a bastard for emphasizing that word and implying he had taken Jo to bed when he had yet to so much as touch her cunny? Yes. Was he desperate enough to obtain her as his bride rather than see her married to another man? Also yes.
The earl made a guttural sound in his throat.
“Enough,” Jo snapped. “I will not have the two of you injuring each other. Julian, please take me home and leave Mr. Decker to his evening.”
“I will not go until I have his promise never to so much as speak your name again,” the earl said, the proverbial dog with a bone he refused to relinquish.
“And I will not agree to such a ludicrous promise,” Decker told him in return. “Since the lady in question is to be my bride, how do you propose I keep from speaking her name?”
Ravenscroft’s face went ruddy with rage. “You will never marry her.”
“Of course I am not marrying Mr. Decker,” Jo agreed quietly. “Please, Julian. Let us return home. Surely Clara will be fretting over you.”
What was this? Decker frowned at Jo. “You are marrying me, my dear, and this is final.”
Her eyebrows rose. “Am I to have no say in the matter of my future? The two of you are behaving like a pack of wild mongrels!”
She was not wrong, but that did not abate his displeasure over her summarily refusing to marry him. “After the kerfuffle we have created this evening, I am afraid we have no other choice. My servants are discreet, but any one of them could be tempted to speak if given the proper motivation. Moreover, anyone could have seen Ravenscroft here squawking in the streets this evening.”
“I do not squawk, you vile hound!” the earl spat.
“Stop it!” Jo hollered. “Stop it, stop it, stop it!”
The fury in her voice took Decker by surprise. He blinked. Ravenscroft did as well, looking equally befuddled. Much to Decker’s satisfaction, he noted a bruise blossoming on the earl’s jaw. His own throbbing cheekbone promised a similar discoloration.
“Julian, I want to go home,” she announced into the shocked silence.
“I will call upon you tomorrow,” Decker said, “to make a formal offer for your hand.”
“And I will be happy to refuse it tomorrow just the same way I did today.” Ravenscroft’s lip curled.
It occurred to him that Jo’s brother intended to oppose him all night long. And Decker was beginning to develop a colossal headache.
“Just go, you stubborn horse’s arse,” Decker could not resist nettling.
It was wrong of him, especially since he had just been caught with the earl’s sister in his lap in the midst of the night, but Decker’s rapidly swelling eye demanded vengeance.
Ravenscroft’s nostrils flared. “You damned—”
“Enough!” Jo interrupted, her cheeks flushed.
Decker took pity on her. She looked as if she were wallowing in enough misery for all three of them put together. This could hardly be easy for her.